I cannot play well in tournaments!!

[pshizz]

So, i played a course yesterday that i have played twice before. Both times i shot in the low 80's. However yesterday during my tournament...the usual happened to me. I have a good practice session...i am hitting the ball well! I have alot of confidence going into my round. I made par on the first two holes, which is good considering it's a tournament and getting off to a good start is a nice confidence boost. The following hole i spray my drive off to the right and have to take an unplayable. I end of making an 8 (par 5) after missing the green and 3 putting. After this i continue to play terribly. I get another 8, then proceed to bogey the next 5 holes. Long story short, i shoot a 99. Keep in mind this is a very difficult course..but that score considering my handicap doesn't add up. I dont know what i can do. I always get off to good starts and then the wheels fall off. Help! I cannot stand playing this teribly in tournaments. I don believde the pressure gets to me...because usually right when i start playing badly the pressure is off.

Any help would be appreciated..and like i said, shooting in the 90's in 4 straight tournaments considering my handicap doesn't make sence. Sure a bad round every once in a while is bound to happen...but not 4 tournaments in a row! Any thoughts on whats going on?

[wedge player]

my guess is thatyou had the first 90 and you think about it during your round and it distracts you maybe a little,i know i have that problems on certain holes.

[Futuresport]

well I'm no guru and I haven't played in any serious tournaments, but a long time ago I used to start focusing on not losing my new sleeves of balls off the tee and I got into a rut.

I'd buy a new sleeve, get all excited to play with them and find myself focusing on not losing them. even when I realized I was having these unproductive thoughts and that I needed to stop them, subconciously when I teed up a brand new ball it still affected me.

so one day I grabbed abunch of old crap balls and took the attitude that I didn't a *&^%. I played great for weeks without even trying.

anyway, moral of this story is that it might help if you find a way to change your perspective entirely. obviously golf is 99% mental and you don't want to necessarily trick yourself into playing good golf, but you can certainly change your mental approach.

[NI4NI]

Pshizz,

Sorry to hear about your experience. While I'm no golf psychiatrist, perhaps all you need is a way to trigger a healthy episode of "golfzheimer's" to keep everything in perspective. Good hole / bad hole, it doesn't matter; on the next tee box, it's all square (forget the past and focus on the present).

Being a suburban Bostonian myself, I'm interested on which course was your tournament held?

[leo3]

Don't try to recover from a bad shot with a "hero" shot, just take your medicine and move on to the next shot. I had a problem with this for quite a while, trying to get a shot back after a bogey, only to make another bogey, or worse, from trying to hit the perfect shot. Keep things in perspective, everyone hits some bad shots, you need to let them go after you hit them, and focus on your next shot. Once I learned how to let go on the course, I've shot some of my best scores after an early bogey or two, as the pressure to maintain perfection is gone, and I can just play my normal game.

[TN94z]

It seems like once you have a bad hole, you could start thinking "Oh no, here I go again...." Just try to really put the bad shots behind you if you can...I know it is difficult.

I played a tournement a couple of weeks ago and shot 78 the first day. I was two off the lead the second day and on the very first hole I made the same mistake you did, except I had an 8 on a par 4!! Now I was playing with the guy I had to beat, so I got to see what he was shooting. In my situation, if I wanted to win, I had to go at every pin after that 8....that didn't make for a good combo. I shot 84 that day and didn't even finish top 3.

It is hard to get away from those shots, but you have to really focus on the next shot to forget the bad ones.

[pshizz]

NI4NI, my tournament was held at cyprian keys.

Thanks for all your help so far!

[NI4NI]

Cyprian is an awesome course! Took my kids there for free lessons in July. I look forward to playing there many times.

Are you a member there or anywhere local?

[ks8829]

You simply need to play more tournament golf.

also make sure you have a pre-shot routine for all your clubs including your putter.

[Motley01]

Tournament golf is alot different than casual golf. It's in your own head, putting too much pressure on yourself.

I used to play tournament golf, and I did the same thing, hacked it up getting all nervous, etc.

Try to relax, and think of it as an just an outing with your buddies.

[caddyshaq]

Just swing as hard as you can and hope it goes in the general direction of the green.

[pshizz]

The thing is, i didn't feel nervous or anxious...except on the first tee. I hit a beautiful tee shot and stuck my 9 iron to 10 feet to follow it up. But right when the pressure seemed to subside, i started to hack it up.

[TN94z]

The thing is, i didn't feel nervous or anxious...except on the first tee. I hit a beautiful tee shot and stuck my 9 iron to 10 feet to follow it up. But right when the pressure seemed to subside, i started to hack it up.

You aren't losing your focus as the pressure subsides are you?

[pshizz]

You aren't losing your focus as the pressure subsides are you?

Maybe i am..im not really sure. I dont focus on too many things while a play golf. I try to be relaxed and have a smooth tempoduring my swing. things just sorta fall apart 3 or 4 holes into my tournament rounds, i can't explain it.

[TN94z]

Maybe i am..im not really sure. I dont focus on too many things while a play golf. I try to be relaxed and have a smooth tempoduring my swing. things just sorta fall apart 3 or 4 holes into my tournament rounds, i can't explain it.

I would also suggest having a pre-shot routine for everything. This gets your mind into "focus" mode for the shot. That has helped me quite a bit.

[kevin.chan]

I am going to play in the Club Tournament this weekend , i hope that i wouldnot have cold feet.

[jamo]

Maybe i am..im not really sure. I dont focus on too many things while a play golf. I try to be relaxed and have a smooth tempoduring my swing. things just sorta fall apart 3 or 4 holes into my tournament rounds, i can't explain it.

NEPGA tourny?

I played a tourny there a month ago, it was a qualifying tourny and i needed to dshoot about 82 to qualify. I was 5 over going into number 12 ( a short par 4 dogleg left over a marsh) when i hit it into the march and made an 8. The next hole is a long par 4 with water left and i was the only one in my group not to hit the water( i had never played there before and was with 3 members) but i made 5. The next hole i made a triple after hitting my tee shot OB. I then made another bogey. But what made it interesting was the last hole. It was a short dogleg right par 5. I hit a wicked slice into a sand trap. I had 220 so i decide to hit a 3-wood. I topped it it and it traveled about 5 feet but it popped out of the bunker. I hit 2 iron onto the green ad made the par putt for an 85 total score. So if i removed the 4 hole strech from 12-15, i had a 76. Maybe if i hadnt sort of mailed it in after the quad i would have qualifyed. But who knows. Anyway, Cyprian is an unrelenting course and you cant let up there. btw: i am from Hopkinton MA and goto Hopkinton HS. Do you play on your HS team, and where else have you played tournys?

[pusher]

Someone earlier wrote that you need to play more tournaments. I believe that's true. I love playing in tournaments but I usually stink them up as well. I've found that I try to be perfect during competition and that leads to fat scores. I need to learn to let go and simply play a round of golf. I've got to learn to accept each shot's outcome and execute the next one as best I can. It's a lesson in perseverence. Keep playing tournaments. Yes, they are different and I may never win one but I believe the more of them I play the better I will become at it.